Red-Haired Pine Bark Beetle

Hylurgus ligniperda

Fabricius

Last updated by:

Faith Campbell

August 2004

The red-haired pine bark beetle is native to Mediterranean areas and Africa but has been introduced to South America, Japan, Sri Lanka, Australia, and New Zealand (Ciesla, 1993). The species can be imported on solid wood packing material made of pine, for example, cargo crates (Ciesla, 1993), and infested logs (Sato, 1975) and is occasionally intercepted by APHIS at United States ports. An infestation of the species was discovered in November 2000 at a Christmas tree plantation in Rochester, New York (T. Hofaker, pers. comm., 2001). Subsequent surveys in 2001 detected two additional infestations in the same county, as well as small infestations in two adjacent counties.In July 2003, the red-haired pine bark beetle was detected in two locations in Los Angeles County. By early 2007, it is known to be established in six counties in southern California–Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino, San Diego, and Ventura (Statewide Integrated Pest Management Program, University of California, Davis. Press release March 19, 2007).

The red-haired pine bark beetle can vector pathogenic fungi (Ciesla, 1988; Zhou et al., 2001). Silvicultural controls include removal of tree stumps and slash to limit breeding habitat and a delay in planting of seedlings for six to nine months after harvest.